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Our Paleo Experience

So, for the month of May, my mother & I embarked on a new diet/fitness journey. We started our own mother-daughter “challenge” of sorts. I am very happy to say that I feel the challenge was successful and has absolutely changed the way I’m looking at diet and fitness.

Our rules included:
– consume a paleo diet: no grains or gluten, no dairy unless fermented, no processed sugars, no counting calories
– drink 64oz of water per day (which I have always struggled with)
– get 8 hours of sleep
– spend 1 hour outside daily if possible
– consume probiotic rich foods/drinks at least 3x a week
– work out together 3 nights per week (yoga/cardio/toning)
– work out alone once per week
– cook the same recipe two nights/week and discuss

The working out process was a bit difficult as mom lives in PA & I am in GA. Thank goodness for FaceTime! We had a really great time with it because each week we would switch who led what workout, some weeks I would lead yoga/toning and mom would lead cardio, then we would switch the following week. It put a variety of exercises into our routine.

I also really enjoyed the cooking “together” part. Mom & I both really love food, and it was a lot of fun to each pick a recipe and cook it. Some were better than others, but we both learned a lot about the paleo diet and likes and dislikes.

Our challenge ended today, 6/1, and I’m happy to report we have both toned & lost weight. My biggest issue was sticking to my diet over girls weekend, there’s grain in SO MANY things. I definitely cheated a bit, but overall I’m pleased with how it went.

Mom & I both concluded that we are going to stick to the paleo diet, slightly modified. We are going to resume dairy consumption, and I’m going to remain gluten-free, however give some lax to the rice & corn instead of being entirely grain-free. When I ate gluten over girls weekend, I just felt awful. I also realized that a big issue with how I eat is that I consume a LOT of alcohol, so I’m working on that, slowly. It’s difficult to make changes to a lifestyle that involves traveling, but for the sake of my body and my health, I’m going to keep working at it.

I am very proud of my mom for sticking this challenge out with me. She is my biggest support system and my biggest critic, so I knew we would be able to keep each other on track. I think she’s shocked at how good she feels since cutting out gluten, it really is shocking.

If you’ve got any questions about our paleo diet, or our new modified paleo diet, feel free to ask 🙂